Rasen leisure centre will be ‘magnificent’

Deputy mayor Stephen Bunney - who is also a West Lindsey District councillor - says the new £6.3 million dry leisure facility will benefit residents in Market Rasen and beyond.

His comments come as West Lindsey District Council and operator Everyone Active prepare to open the leisure centre to the public for the first time at 12pm this Saturday (July 
25).

Coun Bunney said: “The new Market Rasen Sports Centre is a magnificent addition to the recreational provision in the town and surrounding area.

“I am sure that individual locals and groups will greatly enjoy and benefit from the quality of the facilities and equipment, particularly welcoming the fact they are accessible during school hours, as well as evenings, weekends and school holidays.”

And Coun Bunney said he would work hard to make sure the whole community benefitted from the new leisure facilities.

He said: “As a local councillor I will work hard to ensure that Everyone Active makes the facilities available to as wide a cross-section of the community as possible.

“As an individual I look forward to using the ‘virtual’ gym in my personal keeping trim and healthy routine.”

Building work at the centre has continued throughout the pandemic to avoid any major delays in opening.

The work has been complete for several weeks, but the Covid-19 restrictions have meant the centre has been unable to 
open.

The government announced leisure centres would be able to reopen, with certain restrictions in place, on Saturday, July 25.

In line with government guidelines, Market Rasen leisure centre will only be offering the fitness suites and gyms and a phased group exercise programme at this 
time.

And initial opening hours will be 12pm to 6pm.

The centre will be run by Everyone Active and will include a state-of-the-art gym, with more than 40 pieces of Technogym cardio, strength and pure strength equipment.

Its studio space will have 15 Kaiser group cycling 
bikes.

WLDC first announced its plans for a leisure centre in Market Rasen back in June 2018.

The council consulted on the plans and thousands of residents signed a petition calling for the leisure centre to include a swimming pool.

But the district council said a pool would not be ‘financially viable’ at the moment.

As a compromise, WLDC asked its planners drawing up the site layout to leave a space for a swimming pool, should there ever be a justifiable business case in the 
future.